Tuesday, December 9

"Hooked on a feeling" and a movie

ITEM!: Another first for this year: Sydney is permitted to have an opinion about the holiday cards. I asked her this evening if she would rather have a picture taken tomorrow for the card, or if I should just use one of the pics of her from our Grand Canyon trip. She actually volunteered for the photo shoot tomorrow. Knock me over with a feather; I was not expecting that answer. And now I'm all unsure of exactly where I want the picture, and what she'll wear. Do we play it cold weather? Or run with the Santa hat (my personal favorite)? Or will she insist on wearing her Halloween costume? Any and all of these options could very well happen, so the suspense is killing me.ITEM!: I started my Christmas shopping in earnest this morning, and have made a bit of a dent in what I have planned for the holiday. Tomorrow is a day off, of course, because Brian will be home, but I've got plans for Thursday and Friday. I could very well be almost done by the end of the week. That would be so weird.ITEM!: An update on the powder room downstairs: I installed a towel ring on the wall for hand towels. This is remarkable because I had been refusing to install anything on the lovely painted walls, and was making my family deal with an inconvenient and silly over-cabinet-door towel holder. So today, I screwed two big toggle bolts into my pristine wall, and hung a ring on them. It looks okay, and it's super practical, but I'm still not loving it.ITEM!: Also, happily, we are now a family that possesses the Blu-Ray DVD of Guardians of the Galaxy. It's going to hurt us to not watch it before Sydney's home from school tomorrow and done with her homework. We are dying to sing along and giggle again.

My To-Be-Read Pile

"Grave Ransom," Kalayna Price

"The Map of Time," Felix J. Palma

Obsessed Much? Yes. TV shows I watch:

Archer,Drunk History, Elementary, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Game of Thrones, The Good Place, Gotham, iZombie, Last Week Tonight, Life in Pieces, Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, Modern Family, The Originals, Preacher, Talking Dead, The Walking Dead

Movies I've seen

The Accountant

Sing

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Mr. Right

Passengers

Books I've Read

"The End of Oz," Danielle Paige

"Yellow Brick War," Danielle Paige

"Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis," Anne Rice

"The Court of Mist and Fury," Sarah Maas

"The Angels' Share," J.R. Ward

Sydney G.

Cooper G.

Elliot G.

Random pet peeves

Head ribbons on babies

Mouth noises

Use of "@" outside of email addresses

Monkey movies

Shaped shrubbery

Dog owners that leave poo

Men who soapbox pro-life

Shingles

Crickets and ants

New York Yankees, Giants

Mosquito bites

"Fifty Shades of Grey"

Put on your quotation devices

"You can never have too many super-duper, super-swell friends."

"Well-behaved women rarely make history."

"As you wish."

"Bird by bird."

"I spin on an axis of my own neuroses."

"When in trouble, when in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout."

"Not the sort of information I retain."

"Keep a watchful eye for ravens."

" ... trying to smell the color 9."

Arbitrary goals and aspirations

Weigh what I've got listed on my driver's license.

Watch the "best" movies and read all the "best" books.

Gain the confidence to wear heels regularly and in everyday life.

Use the statement, made popular by most every movie villain, "You have no idea what I'm capable of."